


Boy In The Bubble

by HaijaJayne



Category: Sally Face (Video Games)
Genre: Blood and Violence, Fist Fights, Graphic Description, Homophobic Language, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Pining, Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-12
Updated: 2019-03-12
Packaged: 2019-11-16 05:45:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18088556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HaijaJayne/pseuds/HaijaJayne
Summary: Punch my face, do it 'cause I like the painEvery time you curse my nameI know you want the satisfaction, it's not gonna happenKnock me out, kick me when I'm on the groundIt's only gonna let you downTravis crossed a line and Larry was gonna teach him a lesson.





	Boy In The Bubble

**Author's Note:**

> Hello Sally Face fandom! This is my first ever fic in this fandom, I've only ever written for bandom before so this is all very new to me and I hope I did a good job! 
> 
> This is kind of a song fic. Definitely heavily influenced by the song Boy In The Bubble by Alec Benjamin. This is kinda what I see when I listen to the song. 
> 
> Everyone is over 18 in this fic by the way, this isn't Larry Johnson illegally assaulting a minor, they are 18 and 19.

It took six months after Sal had found Travis crying in the bathroom, after he had stood outside the stall enduring insults just to comfort him and find out what had him sobbing, for Travis to finally come around take up Sal on his offer to be friends. The effect of the conversation in the bathroom had been immediate, Travis had stopped bullying Sal and the others. But that's all he did. He just kept to himself and for those six months the most he would do was stare at Sal from time to time. Still he didn't talk to him, just whipped his head back around when Sal caught him looking. 

But it still took until the summer for him to fully come around, to ask Sal to hang out. Sal had been so happy, “Of course, dude!” And had invited him over to watch a movie. Ash had been the only one willing to join, after Sal had begged and explained the whole situation over and over. She had rolled her eyes and called him ‘too forgiving.’ 

“He was dick to you for three years and your willing to invite him into your home. I'm only here because I'm convinced it's just a trap and I wanna be there to kick his ass if it is.” She had said outside his apartment the night off, arms crossed over her chest, mouth set in a scowl.

“He is trying to be better! He stopped being a dick like 6 months ago and he actually wants to try and be our friends. We should at least give him a chance.” She had rolled her eyes again giving him a small shove as she walked into the apartment.

Larry had declined immediately. Like seriously, Sal had gotten out, “I'm having a movie with night with Ashley and Travis and-” before Larry had whipped around from his latest painting glaring hard. 

“No.” 

“But-”

“I said no. Or maybe I should clarify it with a fuck no. If I'm in the same room as that prick I'm gonna throttle his fucking neck.” Larry turned around and focused on the part he was working on before. Sal dropped the subject completely and left him to work. He decided not to even as Todd, knowing the response would be just as angry as Larry's. 

It had been pleasant all in all, Ashley had even had a decent conversation with Travis about shitty horror movies, a subject Sal never thought he would even have knowledge on. After that Travis started asking to hang out throughout the summer, and after a while the others, even Larry had joined in and it felt like he was making progress, that Travis was turning over a whole new leaf. He had felt really good about senior year being relatively normal, which was something he was really looking forward to.

What Sal hadn't expected was for Travis to ask him during lunch to meet him near the dugouts on the baseball field one day after school. Alone. Travis had never tried to be alone with Sal before but he agreed and after school was over and everyone was heading home, he tried to convinced Larry to go ahead home without him. “I'll be right behind you, give me 15 minutes. I'll meet you in the lobby, okay?”

“Are you sure? This seems shady as hell. Why does he want to be alone with you.” Larry gave him an uneasy look and scratched the back of his head.

“He probably just wants to talk and doesn't want you guys judging him for having real human emotions.” Sal gave the arm of Larry's hoodie a playful tug. “I can handle myself. I always have.” Larry groaned and rolled his eyes. 

“Fiiineee.” He whined, throwing his hands up in defeat. “But if you're more than 15 minutes, he's dead meat.” He threatened while making a slit throat motion and Sal gave him a quick shove. 

“Go.” He ordered and Larry turned and walked towards the apartments, grumbling under his breath, even though his smirk made it clear it was all for show. Sal turned back towards the school, waving through kids who were leaving to head home and made his way to the back where the baseball field was. It was completely empty around this time, outdoors sports not starting until early spring. He walked through the gate and spotted a familiar pink shirt by the dugouts. “Hey.” He said as he made his way up to the slightly taller teen. 

“Oh hey you came!” Travis said, sounding almost shocked.

“Well I said I would.” Sal said with a laugh. Travis blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. He shifted nervously. “Are you okay?” 

“Um. Yeah. Sorry I just. Can stand over there? I wanted to talk and I don't anyone to eavesdrop.” Travis motions around the corner, the far wall of the dugout that would shield them from anyone seeing them standing there. 

“Oh yeah sure, no problem.” Travis turned and walked around the wall, Sal gripping his backpack straps as he followed. Once behind the wall, Travis turned to look Sal in the face, chewing on his lip almost hard enough to bleed. “So what did you want to talk about?” Sal asked, his fingers drumming on the straps he was holding on to. Travis took a shaky breath.

“Okay so I just wanted to say thank you for letting me hang out with you and your friends. Its.. really been nice and I… I really appreciate it.” He blurted it out in a fast paced jumble of words and Sal is kind of taken aback for a moment. 

“Uh yeah of course, dude it's no problem. I'm just glad you finally took my offer and-” Sal didn't get to finish his thought because Travis surged forward, grabbing the bottom of his prosthetic to pull up enough to expose scarred misshapen lips. He was blind, eye holes up to his forehead and next thing he could feel was lips pressed up to his. He didn't kiss back, he didn't do anything for a second. All he could feel was fear and confusion and finally his brain kicked in as he reared head back, hands flying up to push his prosthetic back down into place. When he could see again, he was met with a very confused and hurt looking Travis. Sal took a step back, hands up. “Travis… look I'm-”

Travis's face flared bright red so quickly Sal was sure he had to feel dizzy from the sudden rush of blood. His hand clenched open and closed by his sides and before Sal could finish his sentence they were connecting with Sal's chest, Travis putting his weight behind it as he pushed Sal away from him. “Fucking faggot!” The words were familiar, rolling off Travis's tongue as if it were second nature. Sal couldn't think, couldn't brace himself as his stumbled back, head hitting the concrete and a flash of white pain crackling through his skull. 

“Fuck!” Sal crumbled to the ground and reached back to press against where his head had hit the wall. He looked up at Travis, who looked horrified at what he had done. 

“Sal… I'm sorry. I…” He reached a hand out but ripped it back when Sal flinched away from his grasp. Sal moved his hand from the abrasion on the back of his head and hissed as the air hit the open cut. It wasn't bad, nothing more than a small cut but it was enough to bleed, blood on the tips of his fingers. “Fuck I'm so sorry. I… I gotta go.” Travis stuttered out before taking off running back towards the school. 

Sal cursed quietly to himself rubbing lightly at the scratch on the back of his head before getting up and brushing the dirt of the back of his pants. His head was pounding and he was sure it would be worse tomorrow but he was more distracted by the feeling of disappointment filling his chest as he walked back towards the apartment building. He had thought he was doing so good. He had thought that Travis was finally becoming a better person, finally breaking through the hate that his father was force feeding him. But he had basically taken so many steps back in those few actions that they might as well be at square one. 

“What a fucking waste of time.” He sighed as he reached the front sidewalk leading into apartments. Outside, Larry was standing, waiting with a lit cigarette hanging out of his mouth. He gave him a gap toothed grin as he got closer. Sal wrinkled what was left of his nose at the smell of smoke.

“So what did jesus boy wanna talk about?” Larry asked, taking a puff of his cigarette and exhaling politely away from Sal's face. 

“He wanted to thank us for hanging out. Though I don't he is gonna be coming around any time soon.” Sal kicked at the rocks on the sidewalk, the feeling of disappointment rushing him again. Larry took the final drag and threw the butt to the ground, stomping it out with the toe of his boot. 

“Oh yeah? He finally get tired of seeing our ugly mugs?” Larry laughed and threw his arm around the shorter boy's shoulders. Sal gasped, hand flying up as Larry's arm bumped against the lump forming on the back of his head. Larry ripped his arm away and grabbed Sal by the shoulders turning him around to see the back of his head. “What happened?” He asked, pulling Sal's hand away from the bump, ignoring Sal's loud protests to stop. He gently nudged at the blue locks, shifting them enough to see the freshly scabbed and already bruising cut on the back of his head. His hand were practically shaking as he turned as he turned Sal around to face him. “What the fuck did he do to you!?”

“Jesus! Will you stop making a scene!?” Sal grabbed Larry by the wrist and pulled him inside the building, not wanting a random passerby to hear him. Once inside he turned to face the older teen, crossing his arms in front of him as he did. It's not exactly private, anyone could come out of the elevator and hear or that Mr. Addison himself could eavesdrop being only a few doors away, but he knew Larry wouldn't wait long enough to be dragged to a secluded place. “Okay look. He met me at the dugouts and we started talking and he was thanking me for inviting him to hang out and he… kissed me.”

“He kissed you!?” Anger and jealousy flashed across Larry's face. 

“Will you keep your fucking voice down?!” Sal snapped, putting his hands on his hips. “Yes. He kissed me. I didn't kiss him back!” He threw his hands in the air before letting them fall down to his sides. He suddenly felt exhausted by the whole thing. “He just pulled up my mask and kissed me and I pulled away. I tried to tell him I was with you but… he got mad and pushed me. I don't think he knew how close I was to the wall when he did it but I hit my head and he just… kinda bailed after that.” They stood in silence for a moment, Sal watching the gears work in Larry's head as he replayed the story in his head. 

“I'm gonna fucking kill him.” He said calmly and turned towards the front door. Sal lunged forward and grabbed Larry by the wrist. 

“No! Stop it!” Larry wrenched his hand out of Sal's grasp, turning back with fire in his eyes.

“I knew this was going to happen! I told you he was a piece of shit from the beginning and now you probably have a concussion because he is so fucking repressed and can't deal with the fact that he likes another guy!” Sal took a step back and reached up, anxiously tugging on his pigtails. 

“His dad-”

“I don't give a fuck about his dad!” Larry snapped and Sal winced and tugged harder on his hair. “It doesn't excuse that he put his fucking hands on you.”

“I'm sorry.” Sal whispered and Larry felt some of the fury drain out. Not all of it though. It was going to take some time before he didn't feel extremely angry towards Travis. Larry sighed and rubbed a hand over his face.

“I'm. I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at him. And I'm not going to go out and kick his ass but if i see him, Sal, I can't promise that I won't say something. And if it ends up a fight, I'm gonna fight.” Sal let go of his hair and nodded. 

“I know.” 

“I'm gonna go home to cool off. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?” Sal nodded again and Larry took a step forward, wrapping his arms around him, leaning down to press a kiss on the top of his head. Sal hugged back, gripping lightly at the fabric of Larry's hoodie. 

“I love you, Larry Face.” Sal murmured quietly into where he was pressing his face against Larry's chest.

“I love you too, Sally Face.” Larry pressed another kiss to his head before pulling apart and heading to the elevator. Sal watched him get on and hit his floor, sighing as the doors shut before walking over and calling it back up to take him upstairs. 

\--------  
It took about three days for Larry to corner Travis behind the bleachers. Frankly he was quite proud of himself for waiting that long and not hunting him down the very next day. Travis was alone when he finds him, surprising since Larry would have thought he would have been smart enough to keep some of his shitty bully friends around to keep him safe. But he wasn't complaining, at least he didn't have to worry about them fighting dirty. Travis didn't notice him at first, sitting on an overturned milk crate, digging in the dirt with a stick. Larry cleared his throat and Travis's head shot up to look him in the face. 

“Yo.” Larry sneered and there was a flash of fear and panic in Travis's eyes as he quickly jumped to his feet, tossing the stick to the ground. 

“What do you want, queer?” Travis's face was stoney and they might as well be back in junior year of high school, the months of summer hang outs erased in an instant.

“Ya know, I knew you were full of shit from the very beginning. I knew that you didn't want to be our friend.”

“Why would I want to be friends with faggots?” Travis spat, but his words sounded different, almost like he didn't have as much heart behind the insults. Larry rolled his eyes. 

“I personally don't give a shit if you want to be my friend or not. I hate your fucking guts.” Larry cracked his knuckles as he spoke. “What I really care about is how much you hurt Sal's feelings.” 

“I don't care.” Travis scoffed, but Larry could tell he did care, he could hear it in his voice. Larry crossed his arms and continued, ignoring Travis. 

“And had you just acted like an asshole and called him one of your many unoriginal insults, I'd only be down here demanding you apologize and stop being an prick. I'd be pushing aside all my feelings to make Sal happier. But he told me what you did.” Travis paled visibly at his words and clenched his fists. 

“S-so I fucking pushed him. He'll get over it.” Travis said, voice unsteady, nerves peeking through.

“I'm not talking about you pushing him, which I should kick your ass for anyways. I'm talking about you putting your grubby fucking lips on him.” 

“N-no I didn't! That's fucking disgusting!” Travis barked out, voice cracking just a bit. His fists were shaking by his sides. 

“Yes you did. You forced yourself on him and he rejected you. That's why you pushed him. Because you were too busy having a gay panic attack.” Larry laughed.

“Shut the fuck up!” Travis rushed forward and swung, missing by a millimeter was Larry dodged the blow. He stumbled for a second before regaining his footing and raising up both fists. “I'm gonna knock your stupid gapped teeth in!”

“Oh did I hit a nerve?” Larry mocked, raising up both fists to mirror Travis's stance. “You know we all knew right? That you have a giant crush on Sal?” 

“Shut your stupid fucking faggot mouth!” Travis growled through gritted teeth before swinging, this time landing a punch on Larry's jaw, sending the taller teen stumbling back. Larry chuckled as he rubbed this jaw for a second, before closing his hands back into fists. 

“Now we're talking. I've been looking forward to this for days!” Larry's voice is practically delightful as he swung, hitting Travis square in the gut and knocking the wind out if him. Travis stepped back, struggling to breath as he curled in on himself. Larry swung again, clocking him hard in the side of the head, and Travis saw stars for a second, almost falling back as he finally catches his breath. Larry took a step back, hands back up to the defensive. He could have won right there, knocked Travis out with one more blow. But he didn't want just beat him up. Larry wanted Travis to hurt. “Like I said I would have told you to apologize but finding out you kissed my boyfriend, I don't want you even speaking to him.” Travis's eyes widened at the words and Larry can't help but grin. 

“Boyfriend?” Travis repeated, his shoulders slouching, fist lower just a bit. Larry smirked. Oh this is gonna be fun he thought as he moved his head side to side, cracking his neck. Larry wasn't above playing dirty. 

“Yup. Boyfriend. Meaning you never had a chance getting with him.” Travis tensed up and brought his fists back up in front of his face. 

“Shut up.” he demanded. 

“Meaning that I get be the one that kisses and holds him.” 

“I said shut up.” 

“And I get to be the one that gets to know what he looks like begging me to fuck him.” Larry said with a smirk as a disgusted look flashed across Travis face. “I guess I gotta ask, since you kissed him and all, how's my dick taste?” Travis let out a strangled yell as he lunged forward, his fist connecting with Larry's nose with a sicken crunch. Larry cried out, hands flying up to his face as blood started to pour down his chin and into the collar of his shirt, staining it bright red. He stepped back holding his throbbing nose, blood sliding through his fingers before letting out a gurgled laugh, moving his hand to spit out blood onto the ground. 

“What the fuck are you laughing about, homo!? I just broke your huge ugly nose.” Travis said smugly, looking pleased with himself. Larry laughed again and ran the back of his hand across his mouth, smearing blood across his cheek. Travis grimaced at the sight and raised his fists again, knuckles covered with Larry's blood. 

“Because in the end, I win this fight. I have Sal and you don't.” Travis frowned harder and clenching his fists so hard his nails were digging into his palms. “You can punch me all you want. You could knock me out and I'd still go home and see Sal, who by the way loves my huge ugly nose, and he is gonna take care of my broken nose and kiss my bruises and you get to go home to a piece of shit father who will probably be drunk and use you as a punching bag tonight.” 

The words were cruel, even to his own ears but he couldn't stop them. He thought back to the cuts on Sal's head, the hurt look in his eyes and it fueled a rage he had never felt before. Travis stilled, visibly hurt by the words before sneering and swinging at Larry's face again. Larry was ready for him though and he dodged the fist, landing an uppercut to Travis's jaw, causing the shorter teen the fall back onto the ground. Larry walked over to Travis, standing above him before gripping the front of his shirt. 

“You had your chance to be his friend. You should be thankful you were even give one. And you're the one who fucked it up. From this point on I don't want you anywhere near him and if the thought crosses your mind to even look at him, I want you to remember it's my bed he crawls into at night. And if you ever put your hands on him. In any way. I'm gonna make you swallow your teeth. Got it?” Larry asked as he gripped him up by the collar of his shirt. 

“Y-yes.” Travis choked out. Larry smirked and let go, letting him fall back to the ground. 

“Good.” Larry stood back up and smoothed his hair back pushing stray flyaways away from his face. He used the hem off his shirt to scrub off the dried blood, wincing at the pain that radiated through his face as he touched his broken nose. Travis scrambled to his feet and for a moment Larry thought he might swing at him again, just to get some of his rage out but instead he crossed his arms and turned away from the older teen. Larry zipped up the front of his hoodie, covering most of the now ruined Sanity's Fall shirt, and pulled the hood up to hide his face. “Well it was fun chatting with with you, Travis.” He called over his shoulder as he headed back towards the school. 

“Fuck you!” Travis spat back, not looking at him. Larry just shook his head and kept walking. Sal was waiting for him when he got home, clearly pissed when he saw his face. 

“Jesus christ Larry, what did you do? You're black and blue!” He exclaimed, reaching up towards his face but stopping himself from actually touching the bruised skin. Larry looked at him sheepishly, holding up his hands defensively. 

“I just went to talk and he didn't like what I had to say so he broke my nose. I promise I only hit him after he hit me first.” Sal put his hands on his hips. 

“Why do I get the feeling you said some pretty nasty things if he was willing to break your nose over it?” He asked exasperated. 

“I just told him we were dating. It's not my fault he didn't take it well.” Larry said, laughing and Sal rolled his eyes. 

“Knowing you it wasn't just that. Just. Don't go after him again. Please. For me?” Sal took Larry's hand in his and Larry smiled at him fondly. 

“I promise. That isn't going to be an issue anymore.” Larry said, singing his arm around Sal's shoulder and Sal wanted to ask him what he meant but he knew he wouldn't get a straight answer out of him. He sighed and let Larry lead him into his apartment.


End file.
